Howdy all. I was doing a bit of reading and realized my beer was coming out a bit cold. 35 or so. I have adjusted my temp in my kegerator and now the IPA is coming out at about 40 or so. Man, what a difference. The flavors are much more apparent. It has been sitting in the keg for about two weeks as well, and I am sure that has something to do with it. I have read that IPA’s should be served at about 45, so I am going to raise the temp in the kegerator a bit and see what happens. But, I have to learn that with beer making, patience is a virtue. LOL. Anyway, sorry to post what most probably see as obvious, but I am still learning. RR
That’s one of the big complaints Brits have concerning American beer. They say it’s too cold to taste. They insist ’cellar temps’ presents better taste. Americans complain Brits serve their beer at room temp. Of course, most American beer doesn’t have any taste[emoji23]
I am in a take what I get situation. I cold crash/condition/lager in the keg using the freezer side of a side-by-side at about 32F. I serve from the fridge side. The fridge side isn’t directly cooled. It uses bleed air from the freezer side. I serve ~40-45F [emoji2369]
Bier bewusst genießen
I’ve become a bit more “awake” to serving temperature recently. I definitely prefer most beers at ≈ 45°F, though some styles - like an English Porter - I prefer about 5-10° warmer. I’m not a big lager drinker, though I do prefer them a bit colder, say around 40°.
We all need to balance what’s best for the beer, what our preferences are and what’s practical given our individual breweries. But…does anyone give temperature strong consideration when serving their beers? And how do you balance that if you have multiple beers in the same frig/keezer that might be best served at different temperatures? It’s one thing to leave a bottle of beer out on the counter for a few minutes to warm up before opening, not as practical with a freshly poured draft.
it’s all a learning process and it never ends, as techniques and theory seem to be evolving almost faster than ever (bio-engineered yeasts, deeper understanding of compounds within malt/hops leading to oxidation or flavour elements, etc).
i brew and drink 99% in isolation here, so i do what i like. my beer is currently stored at about 55F, and i love drinking most of it from that temp on up.
even crazier, after having had unibroue’s “quelque chose”, a beer intended to be drunk hot, i tried heating up some beer of my own that was also dark and stronger, and it actually tasted pretty good. beer was drunk heated at various times in the past AFAIK.
Now you’ve hit on one of my pet peeves. I hate going to a restaurant or pub, ordering a craft beer, and having it served in a frozen glass. Right away I know they’re either catering to a BMC crowd or they know squat about serving a decent beer. I know which places do this, so purposely ask for a room temperature glass. Quite often it doesn’t matter, because they have the kegs chilled to ~32 degrees. Is it so hard to crank up the temperature in the cold box and let the frozen glasses cool down the shit American lagers, or are the bar managers just too stupid to figure it out?
This article discusses serving temperature. You might find it interesting: Proper Beer Serving Temperatures - American Homebrewers Association
I normally take the bottle out of the fridge and let it warm up 20 - 30 minutes before opening.
My parents got me one of these for Christmas:
I’ll never use it, but I was dishonest and thanked them anyway. It’s the thought that counts, right? ;D
i and, im sure many of you who have gotten into this particular and demanding hobby (suggesting at least a bit that you may be the type of person who generally has particular and demanding hobbies) are hard to buy for. im at an understanding that there is no good in trying to surprise me, and we can just indicate to each other some practical item desired, ie. new boots, whatever.
i understand.
Thanks to all who replied. I am still learning and enjoying getting the info. I will check the temp on my beer tomorrow when I pour a glass and see what’s up. My brother made a wheat beer and it seems better colder, but who knows, it might be that I need to warm that one up a bit as well.
What you like is what you like. Try different temps and see what you prefer - there is no wrong answer when it comes to your own enjoyment!
Colder temps do mute some flavors and aromas, but a cold beer is certainly more thirst-quenching than a cellar-temp one (to me, anyways). I keep my kegerator set to 38F. I’m a slow drinker, so I do enjoy seeing how a beer evolves over time as it warms up.
I’m set at 38F as well. I be curious to how much a pour warms up over the time it takes to drink.
Ha! I thought I was the only person who asked for a warm glass! One thing that is irritating…having to chew through frozen beer. And that beer will freeze.
My serving temps are 38-40 F.
I am finding that it warms a bit when it hits the glass, so from about 40 to about 42 or so. I am trying to adjust it so that it hits about 38 to 40 in the glass. But I can tell the difference for sure.
I keep my keezer set at around 40 degrees. It’s a compromise that keeps my wife happy as she likes her beer a bit colder. 40 degrees allows the taste to come out more than usual refrigeration temps and the beer can warm a bit more quickly for the more flavor intensive styles like Porter or Imperial Stout.
Just my 0.02
I’m with @Bob357 when it comes to restaurants. I read an article of a new restaurant and the owner bragged that they served their beer ice cold in frosted mugs because it’s better that way. I decided right then and there the guy was an idiot and that I would never set foot in the place.
So you set your beer serving temp to be “perfect”. But the beer warms as you drink it, so it’s only “perfect” for the first couple sips. So do you drink it all in one gulp as soon as it’s poured? Or is it less important than it’s being made out to be?
In the non-existent “perfect” world, serving temp for me would be about 2-3° colder than I would ideally like the beer so that I’m drinking the entirety of the beer right in my wheelhouse. But not 10° colder. When a beer is placed in front of me, it’s time to get on with it, not stare at it. 
As far as the importance of serving temperature, that’s up to the drinker. No?
My keezer is set to 39°. It seems to be a good compromise of temperature for the variety of styles I serve. Sometime I should measure the temperature at which the beer actually comes out of the tap–I suspect there is a bit of variation depending on where the keg is in the keezer, and how full the keg is (I use floating dip tubes). I have a small fan in the keezer to circulate air and improve temperature consistency, too.
In the end, I don’t worry about precise serving temperature too awful much, as long as it’s not ice cold for most of the beers I serve. As others have related in this thread, I personally find it really enjoyable to savor how a beer changes as its temperature changes. At risk of being incredibly insufferable, I find that glassware shape is (for me) a big part of enhancing that enjoyment along the temperature gradient…but that’s an oft-discussed topic for a different thread!
Exactly, and that’s my point.
Sorry, I didn’t get that impression from your previous post. My bad.